KITIMAAT VILLAGE, B.C. - Environmental hearings into the proposed Northern Gateway oil pipeline got off to a much-anticipated start Tuesday, the tension immediately whipped up by comments from the federal natural resources minister the day before.Haisla dancers and drummers paraded into the aboriginal community's meeting hall before Haida aboriginal leader Art Sterritt announced his irritation with minister Joe Oliver's suggestion Monday that radical environmentalists funded by big U.S. money were trying to disrupt the project.
Sterritt, who represents 10 coastal First Nations opposed to the project, said it is aboriginal people who must live with the threat of an oil spill if the project goes ahead and that the federal government is trying to colour the hearings.
"We've got an Alberta prime minister trying to bully British Columbians," he said.
Outside of the meeting hall, a lone man stood in support of the Northern Gateway pipeline project.
Matthew Mask, a local plumber dressed in a Super Mario costume, said plumbers need oil jobs.
He mocked the pipeline protesters, saying that while he was prepared to stand outside the hall in the cold early-morning hours, protesters were sleeping in their warm beds.
"Me and my brother, if we don't have a pipeline, how are we supposed to get work around here? It's not fair."
The strong words from both sides were a stark contrast with the gentle opening delivered by hereditary Haisla Chief Sammy Robinson.
"Walk softly on our road," he said. "We are very happy to have you in our territory. Good luck."
Kitimat has been struggling economically for decades — holding the dubious distinction in 2006 of suffering the greatest population decline in Canada.
The promise of oil jobs is tempting for some in the area, but the risk of an oil spill similar to the Exxon Valdez disaster is haunting.
Enbridge Inc.'s (TSX:ENB) proposed $5.5-billion pipeline would take oil sands bitumen from Alberta to northwest B.C.'s Kitimaat Village, the Haisla First Nations community, which overlooks fjord-like Douglas Channel.
That's where oil tankers the size of the Empire State Building would carry oil to Asia.
"Unfortunately, I think things will come to a head in Kitimat if politicians keep on getting involved, forcing the issue instead of letting us make the decision," said lifelong Kitimat resident Manny Arruda.
The 45-year-old emergency response worker at the nearby Rio Tinto aluminum smelter said Oliver's comments upset locals who are still trying to make up their minds on the project.
"I'm a northern person who lives in a northern British Columbia town who uses fuel and I don't consider myself an environmental activist," Arruda said. "I take exception to that and I think we just want to get clear answers."
Federal Liberal Leader Bob Rae equated Oliver's comments to messing with the legal system.
"I think it is as inappropriate for a minister or a prime minister to interfere and intervene and, frankly, intimidate an environmental process as it would be to interfere or intervene in a court case. It is entirely inappropriate," Rae said in Ottawa on Tuesday.
"Once the environmental process happens the prime minister should keep quiet, Mr. Oliver should keep quiet and should respect the process. This is part and parcel of how this government operates."
Arruda said Kitimat has embraced B.C. government plans to open three liquefied natural gas terminals in the town by 2020 because the community believes those projects are safer for the environment.
"We're not saying no to everything," said Arruda, who will address the Northern Gateway hearings in the spring. " We've fully opened our arms to the LNG project."
But Northern Gateway, and the possibility of an oil spill, is too much of a risk for many in Kitimat to support even though the project will boost the local economy, he said.
"There's definitely some people who do want it to go ahead, but there's definitely a lot of opposition," Arruda said.
He said Oliver's comments about environmental radicals did not go over well in Kitimat, where locals are still contemplating the pros and cons of the pipeline project.
"It shows a government that does not understand its limits, that does not understand the rule of law, that does not respect due process," Rae added.
Oliver issued an open letter Monday, saying that there are "environmental and other radical groups" that are trying to block the pipeline and squelch Canadian resource prosperity and job growth.
"They use funding from foreign special interest groups to undermine Canada's national economic interest," he said.
"They attract jet-setting celebrities with some of the largest personal carbon footprints in the world to lecture Canadians not to develop our natural resources."
In a later interview, Oliver clarified that he isn't opposed to all environmentalists, just the foreign ones who are trying to damage Canada's interest.
"I have not called everybody radicals, nor do I think they are, nor do I think they're trying to stop every kind of development. But there are some that do."
But Rae said he was "shocked" at Oliver's comments, echoing a sentiment voiced by Canadian environmental groups who oppose the project.
"This is a process that has to be respected," Rae said Tuesday.
"If it loses its integrity, it loses its credibility and the results of the hearing will not be accepted by people."
The hearings are expected to go on for 18 months.
Original Article
Source: Huff
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